Wednesday Notes

Neatorama has a series on historical means of execution,"This Won't Hurt a Bit: A Painlessly Short (and Incomplete) Evolution of Execution," including Crushing by Elephant, Crucifixion, The Brazen Bull, Ling Chi, Cave of Roses, Keelhauling, and Spanish Donkey. The Guillotine, by comparison with the others, seems humane.

By now, it's all over the internet. "Enhanced interrogation" or"Verschärfte Vernehmung" is a term coined by the Gestapo in 1937. After World War II, its techniques were judged to be war crimes and they were punished by death.

There's a good conversation going on about publishing what Rebecca Goetz calls"amazing Mr. Book." Begin with (and don't forget to read the comments): Tenured Radical, Sivacracy, and Legal History Blog.

Scott McLemee,"Bookapalooza," Inside Higher Ed, 30 May, looks forward to the the National Book Critics Circle's panel on"The Intellectual History and Culture of the Book Review" at New York's Book Expo America, the trade show of the publishing industry.

Rob MacDougall,"Dungeon Master Zero," Old is the New New, 28 May, picks up on a conversation among the Cliopatricians at January's AHA convention. Absolutely great stuff.

Jeffrey Goldberg,"Party Unfaithful: The Republican Implosion," New Yorker, 4 June, is fascinating reading. Both parties implode with regularity, he suggests. They survive in spite of themselves.

Finally, congratulations to Margaret Soltan, whose University Diaries has opened a branch campus over at Inside Higher Ed.